Learn to Concentrate

In this eBook you will learn how to improve your concentration skills. You will be taught techniques which will enable you to focus on what is most important in any situation while ignoring distractions. Concentration is a practical skill which can enrich our lives considerably. Unfortunately, most of us are probably more familiar with losing our concentration than with effective "focusing" ability. This eBook will explore concentration in three stages. Firstly, it will explain what concentration is, show you how it's influenced by your attitudes and emotions, and give you some practical tips to improve your listening and reading skills. Secondly, it will help you to analyse and deal with common distractions in your life. Finally, it will present some practical "focusing" strategies which will help you to improve your concentration in a variety of daily situations.

In this eBook you will learn how to improve your concentration skills. You will be taught techniques which will enable you to focus on what is most important in any situation while ignoring distractions. Concentration is a practical skill which can enrich our lives considerably. Unfortunately, most of us are probably more familiar with losing our concentration than with effective "focusing" ability. This eBook will explore concentration in three stages. Firstly, it will explain what concentration is, show you how it's influenced by your attitudes and emotions, and give you some practical tips to improve your listening and reading skills. Secondly, it will help you to analyse and deal with common distractions in your life. Finally, it will present some practical "focusing" strategies which will help you to improve your concentration in a variety of daily situations. Psychologists have discovered a great deal about how our concentration system works. For example, it seems that “focusing” ability is largely determined by a person’s attitude or interest. This finding shows us that psychologically, the more control you can exert over any difficult situation the less it will upset you. And although you may not be able to change a situation, you can always change your attitude to it. Using this principle, this eBook explains some simple yet powerful focusing techniques which will help you in any mentally demanding situation – whether it’s reading a book, listening to someone at a meeting or playing a sport competitively.

Professor Aidan Moran BA, MA, PhD, FPsSI, AFBPsS, Reg Psychol., C. Psychol., is a Fulbright Scholar, Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Director of the Psychology Research Laboratory in University College, Dublin, Ireland. Aidan is an expert in the use of psychological techniques which can improve peoples’ concentration and performance in academic and sporting situations. His recent books include Teaching Thinking Skills at University and Pure Sport: Practical Sport Psychology. He’s also published numerous scientific papers on concentration and mental imagery. He is the editor-in-chief of the International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. He began his career in 1978 as a research psychologist. For the past 25 years he’s taught and lectured at University College in Dublin. Professor Moran has served as the head of the Department of Psychology and has published extensively in cognitive psychology (mental practice and concentration) and focuses on the use of psychological techniques to improve people’s concentration skills and performance. He has also advised many of Ireland’s leading professional athletes, including golfer Padraig Harrington and the Irish rugby team. He is a former psychologist consultant to the Irish Olympic squad. Professor Moran was awarded a University College, Dublin President’s Research Fellowship sabbatical in 2008-2009 for a project entitled: Mental Practice, Eye Movements and Cognition in Action. This project involved collaboration with researchers in Imperial College (London) and Harvard University (US). He has delivered keynote addresses at major international congresses on sport psychology in the University of Minho (Portugal), Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic), the University of Athens (Greece), and Loughborough (UK). He’s been published in numerous journals, including: Journal of the American College of Surgeons, the Sport Psychologist, Consciousness and Cognition, Journal of Language and Social Psychology, the Irish Psychologist, and Coaching Excellence. He is a regular speaker at academic conferences and corporate events in Ireland and the UK. He’s a member of many professional associations, including the Association for Psychological Science, a Fellow of the Psychological Society of Ireland, a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of The British Psychological Society, the American Psychological Association, Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, and the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity.